Trump and Barr's big counterattack: Actually, they're still covering up the Russia conspiracy
Trump and Barr's big counterattack: Actually, they're still covering up the Russia conspiracy
Trump couldn't extort Ukraine into backing his vapid conspiracy theories. Now he's got Barr doing the dirty work
https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/trump-and-barrs-big-counterattack-actually-theyre-still-covering-up-the-russia-conspiracy/
During his otherwise subdued testimony before Congress this summer, former special counsel Robert Mueller did turn to more dramatic language when discussing one issue: Russia's efforts to undermine American democracy.
"Over the course of my career, I’ve seen a number of challenges to our democracy. The Russian government’s effort to interfere in our election is among the most serious," Mueller said in his opening statement. "This deserves the attention of every American."
Well, two Americans who have decided to give it their attention are Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr. But instead of trying to stop such efforts, their plan is quite clearly to use the power of the United States government to cover up the Russian conspiracy — and intimidate any law enforcement officials who might feel the urge to fight similar criminal conspiracies going into the 2020 elections.
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Just because the Mueller investigation is over doesn't mean Trump's efforts to cover up for Vladimir Putin's campaign against democracy have ended. On the contrary, the obstruction of justice campaign has expanded. Now, under the guidance of Barr, it's being run by the Department of Justice itself.
It's quite clear what's going on here. Barr almost certainly doesn't really believe that DOJ officials, under Mueller's guidance, broke any laws in investigating the Russian criminal conspiracy or Trump's efforts to protect it. Instead, by opening this phony investigation, he intends both to shore up Trump's conspiracy theories claiming that the Russia scandal is all a Democratic hoax, and to use the threat of criminal charges to intimidate any government officials who might have a hankering to protect the 2020 election from any future such conspiracies, involving the Russians or anyone else.
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